Friday, August 31, 2012

Still Dreaming

Women wait in line at Central High School to complete their paperwork to qualify for the Deferred Action program last weekend.

Hundreds of Phoenix dreamers came to Central High School this weekend to get help with the paperwork they need to turn in to win "deferred action" status and keep their dreams of living in the US alive.

At one point the line snaked through the school parking lot. For most of the people in line, Saturday at Central was just the first step in a long journey. There will be more meetings with lawyers, there's a mountain of paperwork that goes with deferred action status and the young immigrants don't want to make a paperwork error that could cost them their future. There will be meetings with DHS bureaucrats. There will be the wait to determine who wins deferred action status and who doesn't.

And there's no guarantee that the program will actually go into effect or, if Mitt Romney wins in November, what's going to happen on Jan. 20 after he's inaugurated. He's indicated that he's opposed to the President's plan, but he hasn't put forward specifics on what he'd do. In a worst case scenario, the immigrants are afraid Romney's DHS would use the database being created during the application process to pursue and deport them. There are certainly elements in the GOP that favor such action.